Director of Chromosome 18
by Toxic-Prophesy
Summary: MSR A group of graduate VU students are assigned the 18th chromosome for the Human Genome Project, to discover what can be cured, but why all the suicide?
1. Beginning

* * * * FBI Office, basement 10:23 AM 3/22/04  
  
Another pencil becomes somewhat permanently involved with the basements roof. Mulder whistles and allows another No.2 to join the other. Becoming progressively bored, he turns to another time-consuming activity, consisting of tapping his fingers onto the wooden desk...over, and over, and over again...  
  
"Stop it!" comes a harassed cry in the far corner of the room.  
  
"You would think Skinner would assign us anything by now," Mulder returns to his previous past time of pencil throwing, "...he just likes to torment us here in our cellar..." A thrown pencil hits a stuck one, proceeding to knock it down.  
  
"Score! Mulder takes home the gold!" He imitates the crowd cheering and begins to chant his name repeatedly.  
  
"Stop, Mulder...." No smile or hints of amusement cross Agent Scully's face, as she continues to clean and organize her seemingly already well-kept desk, the desk being the fruit of her labor of pleading her case to Mulder on why she should have one. "Don't you have any work to be doing?"  
  
"Work? Ha, Scully, you and I both know that won't be happening until that idiotic phone decides to..."  
  
Scully answers the phone on the first ring, and so does Mulder, making Skinner's clear austere voice heard to both proud Agents.  
  
"Scully, you and Mulder report to my office now." With the final word and only word, Skinner hangs up and Mulder and Scully couldn't have moved fast enough.  
  
* * * * FBI Office, Asst. Director Skinner's Office 10:46 AM 3/22/04  
  
"Why the long wait for assignment?" Mulder asks somewhat innocently. Skinner ignored the question, and proceeds to root of the meeting.  
  
"Virginia University students, leading the research for the Human Genome Project for the number 18 chromosome in their Bio Labs, have been reported to be experiencing...abnormal traits. First, their hearing begins to dwindle, until it seems it isn't even there. This is then followed by face disfigurement of and total mental retardation, and then suddenly these victims seemingly launch into the worst state of health..."  
  
"...Death" Scully finished.  
  
"I wouldn't give this to anybody else but you guys."  
  
" 


	2. Williamsburg and Rallys

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own the X-Files or Delta. And not even Mulder's pencils. I own nothing. Nada. Thanks!  
  
* * * * Washington, DC Airport 2:10 PM 3/22/04  
  
Mulder hands the ticket to the middle aged women and boards the plane, coat slung over one side and the annoying rolling suit case in the other hand.  
  
"So what have we got here Scully? Virginia graduates, experiencing the same symptoms until they hit their graves. And this Human Genome Project, can you fill me in?"  
  
"Mulder, one of these days somebody is going to kick that suit case and..."  
  
"C'mon Scully, what do you know?"  
  
"...I'll be the one laughing for once."  
  
The two settled into their seats, Scully pulling out her laptop and Mulder his slinky.  
  
"The Human Genome Project was established sometime around 1985 to 1987, with the hopes and dreams of discovering what chromosomes cause certain diseases and what the chromosomes were even lacking to begin with, to cause such illness."  
  
"...And where does chromosome 18 fit into this?" Mulder said, starting to play more nervously with his slinky as the plane was getting ready for take- off.  
  
"Certain labs across the nation that were willing, were assigned a chromosome. All together, forty-six labs our working on this Project, one chromosome each. Our Virginia lab was given chromosome 18."  
  
"Excuse me, ma'am, but laptops or any other electronic devices are not allowed at this time. Thank you for flying Delta!" Scully grudgingly obliged and the sickening stewardess stepped away to alert the person behind Scully to turn off his game boy. Now she had nothing to keep her mind off of take-off. Mulder silently handed her his slinky, and closed his eyes tightly, as if in intense pain.  
  
* * * * Williamsburg Hotel, Virginia 6:17 PM 3/22/04  
  
Scully's eyes were growing heavy, the laptop's screen was starting to become blurry, almost completely unreadable to her. She sighed, closed her findings, and folded it under her bed. Her stomach made a huge grumble, and she realized she hadn't eaten since Mulder treated her to lunch on the airplane. A nice salty bag of peanuts. Looking up near by restaurants, or basically anything, who but Mulder comes barging into the room with out any signal of entering. Preferably, in her eyes, knocking.  
  
"And yes, you may come in Mulder."  
  
"Afraid I may be violating your precious FBI rule of agents in a hotel room?"  
  
He noticed what she was doing, and leaned in over her shoulder to get a better look.  
  
"You know, on the way in here, I saw this cozy little spot ...but it can't be cozy alone..."  
  
"Then why not ask the maid to join you? She loved the way you complimented her outfit..."  
  
"I was hoping for someone better...somebody wearing a light cozy blue sweater and jeans..."  
  
* * * * Rallys Hamburgers 7:12 PM 3/22/04  
  
"Mulder, you never cease in your ability to amaze me..."  
  
Scully glanced around, and studied her surroundings. Rally, assuming the head fry cook was Rally, was loudly bossing the employees around. Trying to communicate over the noise of the place. The kids play place was full, '...full of needing diaper changing.' She could smell it from where they were at, but even the stench of small children made Scully think of how she '...well, never mind.' Tonight was just a nice talk with Mulder, over disgusting dead cow beef, and the reminiscing of the good times they've shared together.  
  
"Sure do Scully. So, anything new on the Lab?"  
  
And of course, work. 'After all, we are just partners...'  
  
"The people so far not affected with this...disease..." She was unsure on what to call it, "...are the head of the testing, Miss. John Overhauser, and the three of her remaining lab associates. Everybody else who has contacted 'it' is already dead."  
  
"Where do you aim when grabbing a snake from behind, Scully?"  
  
"The head...?"  
  
"You got it."  
  
"Mulder, you can't just assume that the leader is instantly the instigator. We haven't even met these people yet."  
  
"Better safe than sorry." He taunted and then added "So what'll it be, the heart attack wrapped in grease or the grease wrapped in a heart attack?"  
  
"I'll take the tomatoes wrapped in the lettuce, and meet you at a table farthest away from the play pen." 


	3. The One Named Joan

Disclaimer: I do not own the X-files; Chris Carter does and FOX too. I don't own Joan Overhauser, the head of the Genome Project on chromosome 18.  
  
* * * * Williamsburg Hotel, Virginia ????? 3/23/04  
  
"Scully, I can help you. You can lean on me for support, to be your pillar." Mulder spoke calmly, and so confidently it made Scully's knees weak. He proceeded to pull her closer, into an embrace full of love and...support. Such a nice word...  
  
Realization dawned on her, she couldn't do this. "Mulder," she said while stepping back. Each step more painful than the last, and her knees weren't weak from affection now. "Mulder," she said again, "I can't do this."  
  
"You can try." He demanded, stepping closer to her with each word.  
  
bring bring bring  
  
Every step making that sound...  
  
"Scully..." He said, looking at her as if she was his world.  
  
bring  
  
She jolted out of bed, her face flushed and pricks of red were beginning to form around her cheeks.  
  
"Scully?" she muttered weakly, while looking at the hotel's standard alarm clock. 5:30 AM, it blinked painfully at her.  
  
"Good morning! Take a wild guess where I am"  
  
"Not in bed..." she groaned.  
  
"That Miss. Joan...Overhauser? Well, looks like she wasn't our snake after all."  
  
Scully began pulling on work clothes, and tried to put on her shirt with the phone attached to her ear.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"She's been shot dead. By what the local PD says is 'suicide.' You want to meet me here, at the Virginia lab?"  
  
Scully's stomach grumbled and she wiped much needed sleep from her eyes.  
  
"Sure, give me the directions."  
  
* * * * Virginia University Lab 6:17 AM 3/23/04  
  
The lady of the hour's bleak body lie on the algid lab table, face down. Her scarlet blood now somewhat dried.  
  
"She's been here a few hours, I presume?" Scully asked, kneeling next to the body. In this stage of the game, she was unconsciously looking for any physical signs of another way this women knocked on death's door.  
  
"About four hours ago, one of the lab assistants found her." Mulder replied, enjoying how their years together had had their impression on how Scully looked at their murder/ 'suicide' victims. He let one of those floppy grins land on his face.  
  
"Why would a lab assistant be here around one AM? Mulder, I don't see what's so funny..."  
  
"Scully, what are you looking for?"  
  
She paused, unsure herself, and then stood up abruptly. "I'm going to do an autopsy."  
  
"Took the words right out of my mouth."  
  
* * * * Virginia University Lab 7:34 AM 3/23/04  
  
Mulder tried to walk through the detective's photographers; he had hopes of getting a few questions answered by Joan's colleagues. He spotted Mr. Harold Richards, the one who found Joan, but the local PD was already questioning him. He was pretty shaken up about the ordeal, but he was a prime suspect if this flipped into becoming a murder case.  
  
And with Scully looking at the body first, you better be shaken up Harold...  
  
Mulder glanced around the lab room. It was basic, four walls two windows. Tons of photos pinned onto corkboards though. Striking him as strange, he took another look at these pictures. They were all of small children, and each photo had a date on the bottom, 3/06/04. The day before the lab assistants here were becoming... extinct.  
  
He had to tell Scully. Reaching for his cell phone, he stopped halfway dialing. She was doing an autopsy, he put the phone down. How did he usually spend his time when she wasn't around...?  
  
* * * * Williamsburg Hotel, Virginia 11:07 AM 3/23/04  
  
Scully struggled, fumbling with her keys to the hotel room.  
  
'Oohhh...ahhh ...'  
  
Scully stopped her fight; the moaning was coming from Mulder's room next door. Mulder can do as he pleases, even at eleven o'clock in the morning...  
  
She succeeded in opening her door, but the moaning happened again. She couldn't take it anymore. Swinging open her neighbor's door, Mulder was seen sitting by himself on the hotel bed, watching...something.  
  
"Oh, Scully! Hey!" he exclaimed, stammering to find the remote.  
  
"Mulder, what are you watching...?"  
  
"The attack of the moth men, again?" he responded weakly, turning the TV off as he spoke.  
  
Scully just smirked and asked, "Did you get any new information yet?"  
  
"Joan Overhauser," he sat up, "was perfectly healthy. Both mentally and physically. I found this file," he grabbed a blue folder off his desk and handed it to Scully, "in a filing cabinet at the lab before I left. I didn't get a chance to question anybody though."  
  
Scully looked a little stunned. "She wasn't deaf? No problems at all?"  
  
Mulder looked bewilderedly at Scully, saying with his face '...what are you talking about?'  
  
"Mulder, I'm going to go look at this. Can you try questioning the lab assistants?"  
  
"Well, look who's stepping into play now."  
  
"Mulder...please?" she looked at him, and that was all that was needed.  
  
"I'll do my best."  
  
"Oh one more thing," Scully added while heading out, "we don't get the Discovery Channel in here."  
  
* * * * Williamsburg Hotel, VA 11:37 AM 3/23/04  
  
What in the world...Scully thought to herself, completely floored on this women.  
  
Her brain cells were, disappearing, and her eardrums were almost completely backed up. But... she functioned normally and could hear just fine. Going by this folder...  
  
She let out a stretch and a little yawn. This day was going to be a long one. She picked up the photographs again, and just sat there on her bed, still mystified and completely baffled. 


End file.
